¿Habla Ingles?

For anyone who has tried to learn a second language as an adult, you can relate to the premise of ¿Habla Ingles? a new play written by Terry Kingsley-Smith that will receive its first public reading via the popular Listening Place — Readers Theater. To be effective at learning another language, you have to become someone new yourself. You must look at the cultural setting: how words are spoken and how people react to those words. And, it's a two-way street. In the process of transferring knowledge, the teacher is often as deeply affected as the student.

Language learning can be amusing and insightful. Countless sayings exist that just do not translate word for word, others sound like they should be correct but mean something entirely different. One of the funniest blunders English speakers make when learning Spanish, by the way, is that they believe that "Estoy muy embarazada" must mean "I am very embarrassed." However, what it really means is "I am very pregnant." There's a connection between that anecdote and Kingsley-Smith's play but you'll have to attend the reading to understand.

Set locally, a Navy wife volunteers as an English tutor in the literacy program at a public library. When she is assigned her first pupil, a charismatic Latino, she has no idea how drastically her life will be changed.

Actor/writer Terry Kingsley-Smith has distinguished himself with acting roles ("Cagney and Lacey," "McCloud" ) and writing assignments ( "Daniel Boone") for television and made for TV movies ( "Molly and Lawless John"). He invited director Linda Hancock to attend a private reading of the new play without any intention of it being used.

"New works require a lot of adjustment," Hancock confided, and it helps to have an audience present to hear how things go. After hearing the first run through, Hancock believed it would work for the Readers Theater spring play this year. She selected Garland Thompson and MaryLee Sunseri as actors who fit the roles and is thrilled that Kingsley-Smith, who lives locally, agreed to let them present it.

"These three performers bring a wealth of good stuff to this play," Hancock said.

The presentations take place at 1:30 p.m., Sunday, May 18 and repeated 1:30 p.m., Sunday, May 25 in the Drawing Room of the Monterey Museum of Art — La Mirada.

Admission is free to Museum Members and free to non-members with a $10 Museum admission fee. For more information, visit: thelisteningplace.orgor call: 831-424-6645.

Like all new works, Hancock noted, "we never know what the result will be."